For those without health insurance or a general care practitioner, falling ill or sustaining an injury can be a horrifying, frightening experience. Often, in situations like these, people feel like they have no choice but to go to an emergency room. An emergency room physician is certainly qualified for the job, but is often rushed and cannot focus on their care, which is often for a minor problem. The emergency room, though it can treat you even without health insurance, is often horribly expensive and can be cost prohibitive. If you’re in need of medical help and don’t have doctor to schedule an appointment with, your options can seem bleak.
But urgent care offers a better solution. Urgent care facilities are becoming more and more popular around the country, treating over 3 million patients every week. A medical walk in clinic can also provide high quality medical help, employing up to 20,000 medical doctors and professionals, a number that is ever growing. And 85% of medical clinics are open every day of the week, making them a solid option for patients who need medical help but are not able to take off work to schedule a doctor’s appointment with a traditional medical facility.
So what kinds of treatment can urgent care facilities provide? To start with, an urgent care facility can provide medical help for something as basic as a common cold, of which there over one billion cases of every year in the United States. Urgent care facilities most commonly see upper respiratory infections but also can help to diagnose and treat viruses like the flu. They also provide wound repair and treat sprained ankles, of which there are over 25,000 instances of every day. The typical sprained ankle occurs because of an inward rolling of the joint. But four out of five urgent care facilities can also provide fracture diagnosis and care and medical help for more serious conditions that require medical testing such as x-rays.
Urgent Care facilities often have only fifteen minute wait periods, a far cry shorter than a packed emergency room during flu season (or really at any time of the year). Urgent care facilities are much less cost prohibitive as well, and provide medical help without sinking patients into debt.
